Russian media director hospitalized after brutal attack

New York, March 10, 2009--Vadim Rogozhin, managing director of the independent
media holding company Vzglyad in the southern city of Saratov, was hospitalized
in serious condition today after surviving a brutal attack last week, his
company said in an official statement.

Two unidentified
assailants attacked Rogozhin, 38, as he was leaving an elevator at his
apartment building around 6 p.m. Thursday, repeatedly striking him in the head
with heavy objects, Vzglyad said. The assailants left the journalist barely conscious
by his door, but did not rob him. After crawling into his apartment and calling
an ambulance, Rogozhin was hospitalized with a fractured skull and multiple head
lacerations, the business daily Kommersant
said. The journalist has been unconscious since undergoing several operations over
the weekend, the independent news Web site Newsru
said.

"We're
appalled by this vicious attack on our colleague Vadim Rogozhin, who is known
for critical reporting," said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova. "We call on Saratov authorities to thoroughly and
aggressively investigate the crime, apprehend all responsible for it, and
prosecute them to the full extent of the law. Violence against the press must
not be tolerated."

Over
the past several years, Rogozhin worked as a journalist for a number of local
and national media outlets. Prior to his promotion in January to managing
director of Vzglyad--a Saratov company that includes the newspaper Saratovsky Vzglyad, the information agency
Vzglyad-Info, and the Internet television channel TV Saratov-Videonovosti--Rogozhin
edited and reported for Saratovsky
Vzglyad on corruption in the regional government, police, judiciary, and
security services, Kommersant said.
After Rogozhin assumed his managerial position two months ago, he continued to
influence Vzglyad's editorial content, his colleagues told CPJ. "It is obvious
that this attack was related to his professional activity," Vzglyad-Info
Editor-in-Chief Nikolai Lykov told Kommersant.

On
Friday, Saratov
police opened an investigation into the attack and took Rogozhin's computer to
check for possible leads, his colleagues at Vzglyad-Info told CPJ. On Saturday,
authorities with the Saratov regional department
of Russia's
Investigative Committee at the Prosecutor-General's Office took control of the
case and started taking statements from the company's staffers, Vzglyad-Info Deputy
Editor Dmitry Voronkov told CPJ. Local reports said that Rogozhin's journalism
is among the motives that investigators were checking, but officials have made
no statements on the case.